The final judgments are in and The Tournament of Books winner has been crowned. It was a close match, 11-6, and my vote ended up going to the winner. Go check it out. (And read both of these books, they’re great.)
And the Winner Is…
They Could Have Been Contenders: Hot Tips on Latin America’s Nobel Candidates
Among the contenders are some six Hispanophone writers, with the favorite of the bunch running at 25/1 odds. Still, everyone loves an upset, and with that in mind, we've handicapped the group ahead of the big day.
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John Banville’s The Sea wins Booker Prize
Mark will be happy. He recently posted the first three parts of his long interview with John Banville. Maybe now that Banville has won the Booker Prize for his novel, The Sea, Mark will get around to posting the interview's final installment. From the Times story linked above:The chairman of the judges, Professor John Sutherland, described The Sea as "a masterly study of grief, memory and love recollected". He hailed the quality of Banville's writing: "You feel you're in the presence of a virtuoso. In his hands, language is an instrument."The Booker is typically a modest mover of books in the States, so it will be interesting to see if Knopf pushes up publication from the current release date of March 21, 2006. Right now only the British edition is available.An excerpt from The SeaFor one last bit of Booker fun before we put it all away until next year, visit this blogger who is almost done reading every book on the longlist (and gave the Banville just one out of five stars.)Update: Looks like Knopf is moving publication up to early November. The American version.
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Booker Shortlist – With Excerpts!
Forget the longlist. The Booker Prize shortlist is here, and favorites Peter Carey and David Mitchell didn't make the cut, clearing the field for lesser known writers as the Guardian describes. Those that did make the list are:The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai - ExcerptThe Secret River by Kate Grenville - ExcerptCarry Me Down by M.J. Hyland - ExcerptIn the Country of Men by Hisham Matar - ExcerptMother's Milk by Edward St. Aubyn - ExcerptThe Night Watch by Sarah Waters - ExcerptBonus Links: The new favorite? According to the oddsmakers, it's Sarah Waters by a wide margin. Maud collects reviews and interviews to accompany the shortlist.